Swine flu offers 'extraordinary super immunity'

[Gone002]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12152500


By Michelle Roberts Health reporter, BBC News
H1N1 virus Swine flu infection boosted immunity to surprising degrees
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People who recover from swine flu may be left with an extraordinary natural ability to fight off flu viruses, findings suggests.

In beating a bout of H1N1 the body makes antibodies that can kill many other flu strains, a study in the Journal of Experimental Medicine shows.

Doctors hope to harness this power to make a universal flu vaccine that would protect against any type of influenza.

Ultimately this could replace the "best guess" flu vaccines currently used.

Such a vaccine is the "holy grail" for flu researchers. Many scientists are already testing different prototypes to put an end to the yearly race to predict coming flu strains and quickly mass produce a new vaccine each flu season.

Dr Patrick Wilson who led the latest research said the H1N1 swine flu virus that reached pandemic levels infecting an estimated 60 million people last year, had provided a unique opportunity for researchers.
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“Start Quote

This work gives us more confidence that it will be possible to generate a universal flu vaccine”

End Quote Dr Sarah Gilbert Flu vaccine expert at Oxford University

"It demonstrates how to make a single vaccine that could potentially provide immunity to all influenza.

"The surprise was that such a very different influenza strain, as opposed to the most common strains, could lead us to something so widely applicable."
Extraordinary immunity

In the nine patients they studied who had caught swine flu during the pandemic, they found the infection had triggered the production of a wide range of antibodies that are only very rarely seen after seasonal flu infections or flu vaccination.

Five antibodies isolated by the team could fight all the seasonal H1N1 flu strains from the last decade, the devastating "Spanish flu" strain from 1918 which killed up to 50m people, plus a potentially deadly bird flu H5N1 strain.

The researchers believe the "extraordinarily" powerful antibodies were created as the body learned how to fight the new infection with swine flu using its old memory of how to fight off other flu viruses.

Next they plan to examine the immune response of people who were vaccinated against last year's swine flu but did not get sick to see if they too have the same super immunity to flu.

Dr Sarah Gilbert is a expert in viruses at Oxford University and has been testing her own prototype universal flu vaccine.

She said: "Many scientists are working to develop a vaccine that would protect against the many strains of flu virus.

"This work gives us more confidence that it will be possible to generate a universal flu vaccine."

But she said it would take many years for a product to go through the necessary tests and trials.

"It will take at least five years before anything like this could be widely available."

The number of deaths this winter from flu verified by the Health Protection Agency currently is 50, with 45 of these due to swine flu





not my work the BBC takes the cred for this. if there info is correct is this a type of natural selection ?

[chelmostef]

Is this a natural immune system response to an unnatural virus?

or where the person has been given a vaccine first?

[Gone002]

Its not clear, it seems there result are coming from people that were infected.

[Sol Va]

I dont necessarily believe this "news".
Seems like a sensationalized push for more vaccines, which I don't trust.
What Pharma company is behind this?

[9eagle9]

I don't want to support or negate that but .... I had been treating a lot of people with what appeared to be swine flu in fall of 2009. If you are using alternatives its actually much easier to treat than the typical flu. Or should I say the less "Media glamorized" flus. I began to get the symptoms myself, but was able to head them off before a full blown flu episode was able to get me. Now that I think about it, I haven't been sick or even feeling the onset of any of the typical things that I start to come down with since that time. I usually at least have had a few sniffles or a mild cold by this time and this is the second winter since that time I haven't. Hadn't thought about it thought really until now. Just thought I got lucky.

[000]

In my personal life, my way of 'vaccination' is to just allow myself to get sick so that my body can build up immunity to the live virus itself and not a passive form of the virus. I don't know if it is the case, but I have a feeling the immune system can tell the difference between something active and something passive. It'd be cool to see that researched eventually.

Of course essential for this to work, just by getting sick, is to live a healthy, holistic, lifestyle to aid the immune system in gaining strength.

I was recently sick with influenza but I never see a doctor so there is no way to confirm what it was. It was the most severe I'd experienced in a long while though and it included strange sensations of dizziness which were unlike any dizziness I'd felt before, though it was subtle, not extreme. I suppose I will see how my immune system performs over the coming years. It generally has been improving in efficiency and strength.

[9eagle9]

In recent years the severity of some e colis and a lot of flu's have increased. A sort of terminal lethargy accompanies a lot of our new flus. Kids with the flu would be sick enough to stay home, but felt well enough to hang out and play video games all day. I see less and less of that and more of this extreme lethargy.

People reporting what you spoke of , really intense dizziness unlike what we used to experience .

I've found myself wanting to succumb to flus and colds in the past too it seemed easier to just to get it over with than that draggy feeling of constantly having to fight it off, or always being on the threshold of being sick but not quite. I think its a sound theory about allowing a sort of vaccination to take place. Sorta goes along with the practice of not taking fever reducers when ill so the body's natural defense mechanism can kick in to a point where the body's core temp will work to disable the virus.

[000]

In recent years the severity of some e colis and a lot of flu's have increased. A sort of terminal lethargy accompanies a lot of our new flus. Kids with the flu would be sick enough to stay home, but felt well enough to hang out and play video games all day. I see less and less of that and more of this extreme lethargy.

People reporting what you spoke of , really intense dizziness unlike what we used to experience .

I've found myself wanting to succumb to flus and colds in the past too it seemed easier to just to get it over with than that draggy feeling of constantly having to fight it off, or always being on the threshold of being sick but not quite. I think its a sound theory about allowing a sort of vaccination to take place. Sorta goes along with the practice of not taking fever reducers when ill so the body's natural defense mechanism can kick in to a point where the body's core temp will work to disable the virus.

Yeah, I noticed the extreme lethargy with this particular instance. It was to the degree I found it difficult to even think coherently. I was also quite hungry, kind of odd for influenza, and I ate a lot more than I usually do.

I am also totally with you regarding the non-use of fever reduction pharmaceuticals (and also pain relief pharmaceuticals). I forbid their use in my life. I find that Chamomile (Anthemis nobilis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthemis_nobilis)) helped me with mild pain relief in the sense that I more forgot about the aches through mild sedation. It also helps me attain a quality, uninterrupted sleep while ill (and also while not ill). I am also currently curious, with regards to pain relief, how Wild Lettuce (Lactuca virosa (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactuca_virosa)) and Blue Egyptian Water Lily (Nymphaea caerulea (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nymphaea_caerulea)) would fare during an infection or with general aches and pains so I will be testing them with myself at some point.

[happyexpat]

Did this article say that there is no vaccine on the market than can compete with what the human body can already do naturally?

That was how I read it, anyhow. :)

[jeannacav]

Did this article say that there is no vaccine on the market than can compete with what the human body can already do naturally?

That was how I read it, anyhow. :)

I think this point is in there.

but look at this:

"...could fight all the seasonal H1N1 flu strains from the last decade, the devastating "Spanish flu" strain from 1918 which killed up to 50m people, plus a potentially deadly bird flu H5N1 strain....."

Um, wasn't this a manufactured virus from last year?
Then where are all those strains from the last decade coming from?

I think this report is all bogus, and designed to get people to want to take the shot.

jeanna

[bodixa]

I don't think you can stop natural selection. I think it's going to carry on doing its thing regardless. I dunno. Be nice to have some good news for a change.

[slvrfx]

Da down-grading of da DNA. Definitely destroying the dolts.

[Lancelot]

A study of 9 people is hardly worth writing a story on!
Seems to me this is yet more propaganda rolled out by the bbc to promote flu vaccines.
How about some news on swine flu that people really could do with knowing. eg-
'Swine flu virus contains known neuro toxins mercury and squaline'
'Swine flu vaccines still untested - makers now have legal immunity should anything go wrong'